Pitchers and hitters in sports such as baseball and softball are still commonly taught according to largely anecdotal methods that neglect various aspects of the mechanics of pitches. Conventional thought remains that by throwing pitches at various elevations, hitters will be forced to change their eye level up and down and offset their focus to many different heights. Pitchers are also taught to throw different speed pitches, in order to upset a hitter's timing. Pitchers also attempt to confuse hitters by locating the ball on the inside, outside, and middle parts of the strike zone. However, each of these aspects are often simply varied randomly, without regard to any systematic method of characterizing pitches.
Accordingly, continuing efforts exist to analyze the mechanics of pitches, and characterize them in ways that yield better instruction for both pitchers and hitters.